Odd Jobs (41 page)

“How do I make it stop?”

“Son, it never stops. You hope it dulls, but it ain’t ever going to stop. When it happened to me, I just put my head down and got sucked into Kosher World. I let my life get wasted. Twenty-five fucking years. Don’t you waste your life.”

He’s silent for a minute, and I don’t know what to say. Then he begins again. “Listen, I don’t know what amount of time anyone has on this planet. The thing is, it’s not how many years you have, it’s what you do with them. You may be upset you lost your father and I don’t blame you, but understand this: he had a successful life. He had a great kid like you and he spent his working hours defending something important, making our world better. That’s what I was doing, too, but after my mistakes,
I
wasted my life in Kosher World. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Curtis wants me back.”

“Special Services?”

“Yeah. With Curtis having such a big job,
I
know we can get things done the right way.”

“You sure that’s what you want to do?”

“It’s really the only thing for me. And for you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Curtis wants you, too. Remember that he wanted something from us for going after Balducci? Remember he said he would ask us for something later?”

“Yeah, I remember, but I didn’t think he was going to force me to be his slave.”

“Yo, hold on. It’s nothing like that, not at all. The choice is all yours. You don’t want in, no problem. You can walk away, no strings attached. He’s just asking you.”

“As much as I appreciate Curtis offering me this, I’m not sure it’s really my type of thing, you know?”

“No, I think just the opposite. I think this is right for you. I think you can be awesome at this. I think you can use your life to do something that makes a difference. Look back at what you just did. Guys have been taking shots at Balducci for years, but you got it done. And with a letter opener at that. Shit, you dug yourself into drugs and gambling and used them as weapons. I saw what you did and so did Curtis. You can be great at this.”

“I don’t know.”

“Listen, right now you’re hurting because of Rocky. You’re wondering if you can just put this all behind you and start from scratch. What you have to understand is that there is no normal life for you any more. Normal took the bus. Think about it. If you ever found another girl, if you ever had a kid, you’d always be looking over your shoulder. A lot of Balducci’s fucked-up friends aren’t making any money any more, and they could be blaming you.”

“Yeah, I guess there are some circles where I’m not that popular. “

“You think Bino might have a kid brother? Shit, look how you reacted when you found out who killed your father. Are you the only person in the world who needs a pound of flesh? And while we’re on the subject, how about Zog?”

“What about him?”

“Cut the shit. You killed the guy and dumped him in a camp in Albany.”

“Fuck, how’d you know about that?”

“Please, strictly amateur stuff. They went to turn that camp into summer cottages on a lake. The bulldozers picked up the body, and Curtis found out about it in no time. Then we found all sorts of shit that tied you to it. Man, you have a lot to learn. Don’t worry, me and Curtis took care of it. But the point I’m making is every time you feel normal, every time you think you can have a normal life, something will stir up your past. So either you put a fucking bullet in your skull or figure out a way to make your remaining life mean something. But it ain’t going to involve a house in the suburbs with 2.3 kids and a Golden Retriever.”

“So then what do I do?”

“You insulate yourself in the job. You become the best Special Service soldier in the world. You forget about life as you know it and get satisfaction from doing good. I hated the last 25 years and for the first time, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I sure would like it if you were there with me. If it’s not for you, I understand.”

I ask him if I can take out Wellington if the fuck gets out of jail on a technicality or gets time off for good behavior.

“I don’t think that would be a problem. Look, Curtis has something special going here. He gets results and there’s not a lot of red tape that he can’t cut through. Curtis has the trust of a lot of people. At the end of the day, people want to be associated with the wins Curtis can produce and are less likely to fuck with him. This time, it might be worth playing the game because we have a shot to win.”

“When does he need my answer, Sev?”

“Whenever you want, but if you answer soon, we can be partners. I hope you don’t mind I made that request.”

I’m thinking,
I bet my father would have been real
proud if I
followed
him into the district attorney’s office.
There was no better feeling to him than when he was fighting the bad guys. In that way, I still feel him in me and I like that. I feel the pride of fighting the bad guys. Shit, if Dad knew how I did it, his head would’ve exploded, but I did take out some lowlifes. Maybe I should keep on doing what I’m good at. I remember what Cliff told me a lifetime ago and say aloud, “Talk about being on the point of a sword.”

Sev looks at me with one eye closed. “Huh? You mean the letter opener?”

I shake my head. “Naw, it’s nothing. Let’s go get some waffles.”

Sev frowns slightly. “You mean pancakes. Waffles are pancakes that have been run over by a truck.”

“Well, I’m willing to attempt pancakes. How about blueberry pancakes?”

Sev says,
“Hmmm,
they might be acceptable. I’ll keep an open mind to that.”

“This partnership might just work,” I answer.

Sev puts his arm around my shoulder and it feels good.

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FROM THE AUTHOR:

There are a gargantuan amount of writers competing for your attention. I am very grateful you gave Odd Jobs your valuable time. I’d love to know what you thought of this novel and even the other stories out there that you enjoy. Below is contact information and I hope we can stay in touch.
 

Also, do you enjoy the Bloopers or Outtakes at the end of a movie? If so, I’d like to give you one from Odd Jobs. There was one small chapter that the original publisher deemed as “too tasteless for mainstream.” I can’t help myself, I’d love to give you that chapter if you are interested. This piece fits in the story but stands on its own. If you would like the plucked chapter email
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Thank you once again and I look forward to hearing from you.

-Ben

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